We were delighted when Helène Clark was able to join one of our lunchtime talk series while on a brief visit to the UK. Helene is a leader in Theory of Change development and facilitation, founder of ActKnowledge and of Theory of Change Online.

Helène’s presentation provided an opportunity to discuss with one of the world’s leading experts how we have been using Theory of Change in our evaluation and consulting work.

Theory of Change is now one of the most respected approaches to handling the challenges of evaluating complex programmes and interventions, as well as a useful tool for use in the planning of programmes and projects, and one that the Institute uses widely in its evaluation work.

After providing a brief overview of Theory of Change, its history, development and current use, Helène joined us in discussing some of the trickier challenges it presents, such as:

• How to engage with a range of stakeholders in drawing up a Theory of Change map,
• Dealing with the ‘gap’ between programme theory and practice,
• How to present the map in a way that is useful to others, and how to use Theory of Change in developing and presenting evaluation results.

This page includes an edited recording of this discussion, which provides both a valuable introduction, and something of a ‘master class’ in the use of Theory of Change for those interested in this evaluation and planning tool.

Recording:

If you are using Theory of Change in your works, we and Helène would we’d be interested to hear your thoughts on the challenges discussed in the presentation.